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Intentional Leadership — D4, W4, M10 — Strategy

You’ve likely heard me say this at some point, but if we don’t intentionally take time to stop and reflect on our experiences, we merely have a string of experiences in our lives, rather than gaining the wisdom from the lesson. In fact, I encourage everyone I work with to intentionally set time aside for “lessons learned” reflection after completing any significant effort or project. And the lessons are around both what they did well and what didn’t go quite so well, as you see, you can carry forward both kinds of lessons.

As a leader, it’s critical that you do this exercise and analyze past results. Then, consider what measurements you’ve put in place to gauge your ability to execute current and future strategies. Remember to incorporate your lessons learned as you prepare future strategies.

You have the opportunity to integrate strategy as a hallmark of your organization’s culture if you are thoughtful about this practice. You are significantly more likely to be successful in the future if you are able to strategize effectively during your down times, and then it will come as “second nature” during pressure-filled times in your business.

What can you do today, to move your team/organization in the direction of thinking and acting more strategically in all avenues of your business?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W4, M10 — Strategy

How well do you know your team / organization? If you are to capitalize on your opportunities, it’s important that you know them extremely well; you need to know each person’s strengths and capabilities.

Strategies often fail during implementation because of an organization’s or team’s failure to scope the correct amount of time, capital, and talent necessary to fully embrace the opportunity.*

To avoid finding yourself in a similar situation, take some time today to think ahead…

What opportunity is in your future that you need to take advantage of?

What errors, obstacles, challenges do you envision encountering on the path to your goal? How can you minimize your chances of stumbling over any of them?

What else is going on in your organization that might cause additional challenges or restricted resources as you pursue this opportunity?

Who else needs to know your plan? What other teams/areas of your organization will be touched by this opportunity?

Whose talents do you need on your team to move strategically into this opportunity?

How soon can you meet with the necessary individuals to work through your strategy, map out some actions, and get started moving forward toward this opportunity?

*From Intentional Leadership, by Giant Impact.

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Intentional Leadership — D1, W3, M10 — Strategy

We’ve talked some about having an awareness of our strengths. I wonder, have you explored this for yourself? If I were to meet you today, and asked you the question: What are your strengths? Could you answer without hesitation?

If you hesitate, I encourage you to spend some time in exploration, as understanding this about yourself will have tremendous benefits throughout your life.

What does knowing one’s strengths have to do with strategy? Well, it allows one to leverage one’s assets, and to do so strategically. It’s one of the keys to success, in that you know who you are, what you have to offer, what your areas of expertise are, and that enables you to build on those assets to move yourself, your team, and your organization forward.

This also allows you to leverage your influence. My leading strength is as a strategist and one of my areas of expertise is in communication. When I combine the two, and develop strategic communication plans, I am able to leverage a strength, with an area of expertise, which allows me to expand my influence. Were I to attempt to function in the say way in another area, say finance or engineering, well…it would be somewhat laughable, as those are not my areas of expertise.

So, learn about yourself so you can leverage your strengths and expand your influence. This, in turn, will allow you to embrace risk more easily, because you have a solid foundation from which to begin.

Think about prominent, successful figures in business who have done this…Rupert Murdoch — made his name in Australia with newspapers and this is how he moved into the US media market, with Fox Broadcasting and the Wall Street Journal. Steve Jobs — so well known for his time at the helm of Apple, also used his technological expertise and intuition about what viewers were looking for when he moved Pixar into the spotlight.

The business world and history are full of similar stories. The question is, what is your story?

Who are what are your most valuable assets and how can you invest in them and deploy them to expand your influence and propel yourself forward?

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